Amazon reportedly paid $90 million for its December acquisition of Blink, an Andover-based home security camera maker that had raised about $20 million in funding.
The previously unreported figure comes from a Reuters story published Monday morning, which also explains the rationale behind why Amazon was so interested in Blink. Less than two months after Amazon confirmed its acquisition, the Seattle tech giant scooped up Sqrrl, a Boston-area cybersecurity startup founded by former NSA employees.
Blink's investors included Flybridge Capital Partners, Comcast Ventures and Baker Capital.
Relying on unnamed sources familiar with the deal, Reuters reported that Amazon was not just interested in Blink's affordable home security camera business but the proprietary, energy-efficient and affordable hardware powering the devices as well. Blink's owner, Immedia Semiconductor, was founded by three former employees at Sand Video, which designed chips that improved video playback in the early 2000s.
After making failed attempts to sell its chip to video conferencing vendors and laptop makers, Immedia decided to use its proprietary chip to make the Blink security camera, which is wireless and can last on a single pair of AA batteries for two years. That gave the company an edge over Amazon's Cloud Cam, which was wired and $20 more expensive.
Matt Crowley, the CEO of Amazon-backed smart speaker microphone maker Vesper, told Reuters that Amazon's acquisition of Blink could make it harder for the Seattle tech giant's competitors to copy its devices. He said it could also lower manufacturing costs.
